‘Half-Life 2’ City 17 Recreated by Fan in Unreal Engine 3

In the world of video games, there are a lot of what if and hypothetical scenarios, where calculated decisions ultimately inform the success or failure of a retail product. It’s also a business where partnerships can be everything.

One such partnership that has been huge for developer/publisher Valve is the one between their library of games and the Source engine. Without Source there would be no Half-Life, there would be no Portal, and there would be no Left 4 Dead.

But what if Half-Life had gone a different direction? What if the title had used a different graphics engine than Valve’s flagship platform?

Well, one artist who goes by the name Logithx has posted a free screenshots that imagine an alternate universe wherein Half-Life 2 was actually an Unreal Engine game. It’s obviously just one fan’s attempt to recreate one developer’s game using a different set of tools, and in no way should suggest Half-Life is jumping ship from Source, but the shots themselves are certainly impressive.

What’s most impressive about Logithx’s work is that he or she did not use a single Half-Life asset for their recreation of City 17, aside from Dr. Breen’s face of course. Clearly someone is a huge fan, as most of the gaming world is.

Logithx also hopes to improve upon their work once Unreal Engine 4 makes its public debut. They say that will require a lot of extra work, but will also make for a more detailed end product. We think the screens look plenty detailed as it is, but there is apparently a lot of room for improvement.

While gamers continue to count the days until the unveiling of Half-Life 3 (fingers crossed!), fans are popping up with some creative tributes to Valve’s triple-A franchise. In fact, we reckon gamers have spent more time working on Half-Life related material – fan trailers, art, etc. – than Valve themselves have been working on the franchise.

Still, it’s always great to see a dedicated fan base show their love. And maybe Logithx’s work might net him or her a job making games in the future.

What do you think of this Half-Life recreation using the Unreal Engine? Would it be blasphemy if the game used anything but Source?